around. >> can i stand you by? we're going to pause to let our viewers join us at 11:00. just pause i appreciate this greatly. you're helping a lot of people understand what happened. >> okay. >> this is a fox news alert. as you know an amtrak train headed to new york city from washington, d.c. has crashed in philadelphia this evening. several people appear to be injured are injured we've seen that it was train 188. that left washington, d.c. earlier tonight the front of the train going into a turn. when it shook. eye witnesses on the scene, and those on board say the front looked pretty bad there is one person working for the associated press was quoted an ap report as saying he saw, quote some people mangled up. we have no confirmed reports of fatalities, however, we're being told that at least one of the

hospitals is full and several other hospitals are accepting victims who have been injured in this crash. we expect we're told by some reports the mayor is on scene. the philadelphia mayor, and that we might be getting a briefing from him within the next few moments. if that is true it will be a great help in trying to understand what happened. we're getting reports from philadelphia fire philadelphia fire department that the police are transporting victims to hospitals in the back of police wagons, 4 to 5 people at a time. this is in addition to ambulances that we've seen on the scene in there. they're heavy, heavy emergency first responder presence on scene tonight. we heard a report that they're calling in additional helicopters to provide light for the first responders so they can do their jobs as they search for folks who may be trapped in the cars on board we do not know what caused this crash at this hour. all we know is that there are

reports it appears to be going into a turn when it shook. our passenger, look at this woman appearing to be covered in blood she sits patiently. unaware she's being seen by millions a train is as all trains we ride on amtrak have no seat belts and people have had no opportunity to protect themselves when danger strikes. one of the passengers on board that train was beth david, she's in the hospital now. she's with us by phone telling us about what can only be described as a harrowing ordeal. you told me you asked yourself is the train car in which you're traveling began to turn over in the dark of night. the thought that ran through

your mind is, is this going to be it? that has got to be what you're thinking. am i about to die? >> yes. i mean you just have a moment. first moment of just you're like suddenly you're just being tossed into your seat. it's dark. and i can taste dirt in my mouth. and keep tumbling. you just don't know. there is a moment of maybe this is it. maybe this is it. >> when you got out of the train what was the exchange between you and others? what where you saying? what were they say something >> like first it was kind of like everyone was trying to figure out how to get out. people were asking for help. because you had to climb out. then it was people asking to

jump out of the train. i a lot of my shoes so i had no shoes other people had injured arms or things it was much more of a physical test to get out i mean it was kind of like stop trying to figure out what is the next where do we go next? people just asking to call loved ones anyone who has a phone. just trying to figure out where to go. >> was your phone working at that time? >> yes. i luckily found my phone. some people couldn't find their phones. the i lost my lap top and money. other people i mean just the first thing of course is like you want to search for your belongings but the car is starting to fill with smoke so you don't know what is going to

happen next. >> you said you'd ridden the train before. describe it. is it business clients at this hour? >> yes. i mean, like there are a lot of people just coming from a business people kind of a business crowd people just traveling for family. it varies >> when were you placed in an ambulance to get to the hospital? >> no. into a police wagon. >> okay. and were there any other passengers with you? >> yeah. about like eight other passengers. >> what was their condition? >> i mean people who were put into the police wagon had minor injuries. some blood, cuts that kind of thing. i mean the really injured people, there was a ton of ambulances taking people out in gurneys. so people i was with were pretty minor.

it's funny. some people want to call family members and others are thinking about their next trip. some people because i come from a journalist background i just wanted to report about it. i mean other people don't want to record the moment or take selfies you know? >> do you mind how old are you? >> 35 years old. >> and you're a journalist for whom? >> i worked for a site a new start up in philadelphia. >> so your inclination is start to news gather but i assume you have family? >> yes. >> have you spoken with your family? >> yes. of course. >> they wanted to be reassured. >> that is one of the first things i did. i called it's a mix. it's reaction you want to connect let them know you're okay but you don't want to worry them. it's sad. i don't want to worry my mom or

dad, but let them know i'm okay. and just kind of working through some logistics. people were like where is my cash? then these moments where there are other survivors. it's just like just to be like we got out of this. so. >> you must be feeling a bit of shock. i mean you're trying to take a train trip now, you had dirt in your mouth in a mass casualty situation, plan situation. >> yes. it's one of the things you just don't know. you don't know how you're going to feel tomorrow. we're talking about i need to get back to new york. i mean am goiing to take a train?

you're not sure. so i mean so i mean it's also like the others were discussing you don't feel injured at first. but you just don't feel it. once you the shock wears off, you start to feel it. the full impact. it's hard to understand now. >> it's going to take a while. i'd love to stand you by. i want to get live to a local reporter who has breaking news on information but stu and ask you if you can stay with us just a bit more. let's go to our local affiliate who has been helpful. >> we hope to get an update from the mayor and police commissioner on what they can

tell us about the casualty situation and what folks might be able to do to help. in cases staying away from the area. it's jam packed with cars and people. >> yes, he was watching netflix, the plane, i'm quoting started to decelerate. he was in the back of the train. so another person said hey, let's get out of the back of the car, which they did. he said he saw passengers trying to escape with the windows the front of the train is mangled you've seen this if you're watching us now from our sky fox he said the whole thing is like a pile of metal. he can see that from what sky fox has shown us. >> absolutely.

just incredible. >> so you're there and we heard this across scanners. so here we are. an hour and a half an hour 50 minutes into this. >> we wanted to bring in former national transportation safety board investigator henry hughes we're told ntsb is there gathering information henry, what do you think is happening? henry, can you hear me? bear with us as we try to get our guest. do we have him? stand by as we try to get him. it's been a busy night here at fox news channel. not as busy as it is for the families of the victims there and first responders dealing with a devastating situation the crash of a northeast regional regional train, 188. acknowledging there has been a

crash as smoke-filled the inside of a train, a loud crash was heard and at this point we're still, we haven't been updated on official numbers we're being told 50 hurt. one witness saying the bodies were flying and this woman on board that train only suffered minor injuries we know first twoe cars must have fared a bit worse we saw a mangled train car in a shot we've been looking at. we do not know anymore more than that. miracles can happen officials in philadelphia are asking for prayers. trace ghallager has got the latest information. we'll go to him now. trace? >> i just want to read this.

this is coming from associated press manager on board the train just crossed the wires. apologize for looking down. he says this. he was watching netflix at the time. he said the train began to decelerate and you can see people's stuff flying. he said another passenger urged him to escape the back of the car, which he did. he said he saw passengers trying to escape through windows of the cars on their sides the front of the train, he said is mangled and a wreck. the whole thing, just a pile of metal we don't know the cause of the crash. but this is telling what he says the train began to decelerate so it slowed down then the train derailed. if you look at the first two cars one is a kie quiet car.

second is a business car. those appear at this point to be the most-badly damaged and we see the first responders focusing on those trains. if we can get more information on exactly when the mayor is scheduled to speak, we'll get back to you on that as well. >> trace, thank you. i now want to bring in henry hughes are you there? >> yes, ma'am. >> what we've heard is somewhat conflicting reports. our guest said what she felt was the train shifted to the right and the cars were tumbling over then stopped. she did not report the car was dragged along the ground. another person reported that they felt the car was, the train was going into a turn when it shook and we heard trace's report from an employee who said

he felt the train slow down at the end and then appeared to derail what. do you make of the reports tonight? >> well not being there makes it difficult but sounds like a derailment and a track problem. if the ntsb responds to the scene -- >> they are. we're told they're gathering information. >> i saw it on tv and wondered why my bags weren't packed but i'm retired. they're going to have a person going to look at that aspect of it. and look at human performance. we have a lot of injured people. one thing that is going to make it difficult for rescue personnel is the fact that trains are heavy duty pieces of

equipment. the standard tools or jaws of life is carried by fire departments this time. not built to specification that's works on trains very well. >> looking at this now, what people are concerned about is potential loss of life. is there anyway is there anyway that everyone managed to survive this accident? based on your experience? >> there is always hope. and i don't mean to evade the question but i've seen extraordinary things in 44 years. it's a very severe impact. there is no question about that. but there is always hope. >> how fast would a train like this be going? in the middle of the journey? >> it depends on what the speed

allowable. it could be 55 or 60 miles per hour. it depends on circumstances of what speed control was for that area. >> and what causes train crashes? >> there are three thing that's cause any transportation accident. talking about airplanes or trains people, vehicles and the environment. in this case if you look at the operational environment we're talking about track the road bed. that sort of thing the physical environment. the train itself. you know? if we're talking about maintenance of a truck and the locomotives and cars that includes the wheels the suspension systems.

and brakes then the human aspect of it. were the engineer and crew performing the way they should have been? >> when you hear the train was going into a turn when it began to shake, does that suggest to you excessive speed? or anything about speed? >> that is not what that suggests to me. that the trucks and wheels had left the rails and were riding right and left up and down on the railroad ties. and in fact from what i understand one witness or passengers indicated they started to be turned from side to side front to back. that to me is indicative of a derailment. >> when you say derailment just translate that for the rest of

us. >> the wheels the train wheels went off the track. and it could be because of a defective rail. it could have been because a wheel broke. metal fatigue sometimes causes these problems. >> that is one of the many things ntsb is going to have to investigate we want to get more input now from another expert who is a railroad safety consultant. we're going to go to him i just want to update our viewers. it is about two hours now since we've heard that this passenger train had detailed. amtrak train detrailed and had no official briefing from first responders, the mayor's office amtrak, or anyone else for that matter. all of our information at this hour has been from those who are on board the train. as i say that amtrak sends out a tweet.

injuries reported in train 188. all service cancelled between new york and philly. that is as much as we've gotten out of amtrak and has hands full. and in defense of amtrak i guess for lack of a better term in 2013, amtrak carried 11.4 million passengers along this route. safely. these train accidents weshg do hear about them are exceedingly rare. they get a lot of attention when they happen it's similar to an airplane situation. the reason they don't feel the need to put train, seat belts on every train is because perhaps they believe it's safe. perhaps they believe there is not a cost benefit reward for them. but you know given the loss of life we've seen in some instances it's a valid question to ask. i want to get to our guest, he's

a railroad safety consultant. why? what is the rationale? train crashes are rain for not having seat belts on them? >> you mentioned a train crash is one of a low-probability high cost type events. seat belts have been talked about in the industry for years. and prevalent research has indicated up until this point at least is that there would be somewhat difficulty in getting people to use them. on a regular basis. that the likely benefit would be outweighed by the cost. >> and i mean given that does someone on board a passenger train have a chance to save him or herself? or just a matter of luck? >> well you know it's a combination of both really. the passenger area you're just a passenger. you have no restrain of any

kind. if the car turns over you can be thrown to the ceiling. you can be ejected from the window and you can collide with other passengers >> tonight as they're on scene right now, do you believe they probably have a working theory of how this happened? do you think they know yet? >> as i've heard indication there may have been a csx freight train involved. >> we're just getting information on that. we've reached out to them. information was, and i quote we have no information at this time to indicate that a csx train was involved and are continuing to monitor the situation we stand ready to assist in any way we can. that is a representative of csx. they're saying there is no information to indicate a csx train was involved >> that is interesting. by now they should have indication if one was involved. so that would put us more into a

scenario perhaps the train collided with something else heavy and thick. like perhaps a bridge or tunnel or things of that nature. >> this is a busy area. amtrak northeastern that shares rail lines with freight trains it's busy for rail traffic. it's not like the train would have been the only train on this train or on this track or on the track that was right next to it. right? >> is that is right. there have been indications it derailed on a curve. if it has, it may have subsequently struck something hard. perhaps a train on a different track. if it collided with a train on the same track, then the question arises as to why were the two trains on the same track? one of them shouldn't have been there. >> we had a train crash just

north of new york city back in 2013. there was a metro north crash that happened in the bronx. there is a train derailed there because it's going too fast. four people died. 60 people injured. how likely is that? the train is going too fast. it hits the turn the fact this happened on a turn may be telling. >> actually i handled that and the engineer speed curve at 82. we had human fatigue was a big issue there. and undiagnosed sleep apnea. in answer to your question it's a fairly rare occurrence it's a low probability, high consequence events. >> we're being told first responders pushing back the

media getting anyone out of there that is not a first responder. can you explain? i'm sure you've been on the scene. yes? >> yes. >> okay. so can you explain to us why you know we see many people standing around? and some folks, there isn't, there doesn't appear to be an urgency. explain that to people at home watching this. >> sorry. we're losing him. >> any kind of -- involving a significant number of people -- >> sorry, robert we're losing you. we're losing you. we're trying to get you back. >> okay. okay. >> we can hear you now. go ahead. >> okay. anything occurring at night with a significant number of people is going to be a chaotic scene. in this case you can throw in the to fact the train is

electrically powered by overhead wire. those wires carry 12,000 volts. and you can see in video some of those wires are down and they're draped around the train at various points. first thing first responders is going to have to coordinate the railroad and be sure the wires have been deenergized before emergency response can happen. i would imagine it's going to take several hours to get all of the people out from inside and perhaps from under the train. >> and what about -- does a train have a black box? similar to a train? >> yes. in this train, they'd have two. one in each end of the train. if it hit a train, that train would have the recording. >> what kind of data do they collect? >> a variety of data including speed distance travel.

there are four different types of braking systems on a train. it gives you an up to second status on each of those systems. in addition to that the signal system itself has a number of event recorders connected to it. that they should be able to reconstruct what signal aspects to the crew. and idea is system failure. or human factor at this time. >> robert thank you very much. we appreciate it. i want to tell the viewers that amtrak established a hot line for family and friends of passengers on the new york city bound train. this is northeastern regional train 188 derailing in philadelphia tonight. the number they're offering for family and friends looking for

information is 1-800-523-9101. we'll put it on the screen in just a moment. let's listen to our local philadelphia coverage. >> folks on board making sure they don't need medical attention. several being talked to now by medical personnel. you can see here this is about 15, 16 passengers from the train. this is at least the fourth bus we've seen leaving the area here or arriving in this area with passengers on board the first two had 25 to 30 each. they look shook up. they're on the phone, texting people, talking to emergency personnel making sure they don't have injuries. see if they need treatment or any kind of services from them. police on the scene are expecting to organize this movement in and out of the area

here trying to keep the area clear ambulances by the dozens. police personnel by the dozens trying to keep this area clear, keep traffic moving through here. emergency personnel in and out of the railroad area. again we have not seen serious injuries or anyone with a serious injury being brought out of the area. we're seeing people that appear to be okay. don't seem to have serious injuries or anything like that. emergency medical personnel on board that bus talking to the passengers, trying to see if they're okay or need attention. lots of folks on their phones calling texting doing things like that letting loved ones know they're okay. no idea if they'll be taken to the hospital. possibly to be interviewed. there are police officers on board these buses

we're waiting for a conference to investigate what happened here and what caused this derailment here. it's been ongoing for an hour and a half to two hours. lots of activity here. they move all kinds of equipment and individuals with rescue personnel and fire personnel to help out on that train. as you mentioned, several times, in the dark and bruce mentioned in the dark on the crossing trying to get to everybody, that is a daunting task but one that fire and police officials are up to. i'm sure all are rescue one fire personnel guys that do heavy lifting are putting in their efforts here tonight. >> absolutely. now, we're taking a look at some of the passengers on the bus who are not hurt as badly. let me show you video from the

triage scene i believe. there it is there. these are the people who are hurt quite a bit worse. it's our prayers and thoughts go out to these people. impact must have been horrendous. to be able to stop a train like that takes a lot of power and power these people must have witnessed must have been harrowing for them. so this was a triage scene. mind you a lot of the police vans formed a little bit of a barrier because they don't want us looking in at these people. these people last thing they need is to be on tv. and so the ones that are really hurt kind of blocked off, understandably in this type of situation. the ntsb, which deals with railroad accidents apparently is on scene right now.

our bruce gordon saw several investigators interest. and they will be holding a news conference in the morning. like the faa, as bruce mentioned these take a tremendous amount of effort to piece together what happened you know airplanes have black boxes right to detail what happened. these passenger trains usually have 1, or 2 recorders that will detail what happened they're usually impact resistant boxes and carriers however resistant is the key word there. this is tremendous impact. hopefully, they can tell ntsb what happened, what unfolded. we've heard rumors tonight. something bad happened and from passengers we've heard, they have been talking they said it seemed like they were slamming on the brakes before this went off the tracks. >> absolutely.

and to understand we have a picture from the red cross philly after they were called in and so this is them getting ready to respond people are taking care of and people who are injured, they're trying to get treatment and we're back looking at sky fox live. this is a one of the train cars on its side i don't see overhead lights on. there are 238 passengers on this particular train, and five crew members on its way from washington, d.c. to new york city. we're waiting to hear from the mayor and police that are trying

to gather information so we hope to hear from them soon. we hope to get more insight and should be soon before we know what happened the ntsb plans to hold a news conpresence in the morning. and as light hits it will be easier on everybody. we talked to the railroad reconstruction that said he talked about this particular train should have two event recorders on it. they will try to reconstruct what happened. as bruce talked about, it's going to be months before we know what happened. >> and they're going to interview a lot of witnesses one is former congressman patrick murphy.

this is one of the pictures tweeted out. so far, 59 patients so far we hadded a guest that suffered only minor injuries. when you see the mangled car up front of this train, one has to assume there is going to be very bad news in terms of injuries. i wanted to update the viewers on the numbers we know thus far. 238 passengers on board from amtrak now. we expect there to be official or near official five crew members and as mentioned service between philly and new york city has been suspended.

we expect that is going to be closed now tonight and perhaps beyond. we're getting reports of local residents showing up with bottled water to hand out to first responders on the scene and for the passengers. and good for them. there are story that's give you the, remind you of the spirit of the american people. there is a moment you can see the first responder, the cop, the firefighter, the emf guy or gal, who is risking their life and most have families of their own, to help save someone else. those stories often ignored by people in the media so quick to rush to condemn these folks yet, we see them doing their jobs trying to help those in need. moments ago listening to local coverage we heard eye witnesses or passengers speak about experiences on board this train.

we want to take a listen. >> i have seen a car tilt over. and as far as going back as i was standing there, ways there was a lot of ambulance and people going back there picking everybody up. they were injured pretty bad i heard a big bang. it caught my attention with the bang itself. and once you heard that bang you don't think nothing of it. 20 minutes later, helicopters and everybody just started to come. that is what i just put 2 and 2 together, figuring one of these trains just fell off the railroad. >> the point i just made the city just tweeted out the city thanks good samaritans who

brought water on scene. they saw trouble and thought of others. let's listen to whether he's got new information. >> the police vehicles continue to stream in here. several more just came in seconds ago. things seem to have calmed down for a while. and by that i mean not the frantic kind of running about to and fro we saw when we first arrived here an hour plus ago. police standing around waiting for orders we have not seen anyone pulled out of the area there, which is beyond the fire truck you're looking at by probably a couple hundred yards, we believe to be the crash scene. the vehicles are parked here along the street this is frankfurt and we've seen a number of ambulance workers bringing folks out on gurneys and stretchers and have not seen

anything like that for some time. folks being dealt with and fire department units here at the intersection. we are told the mayor is here on the scene. i have not eye balled him in a while. he was getting briefed along with top lieutenants. we've not seen him for quite a while. we assume he's getting briefed he will brief us with whatever he can tell us. we've been saying here it's very early and we have questions. as we've seen here it's calmed down to a great degree. more police vehicles more fire department vehicles but points you can see -- >> i've got to interrupt you i apologize we have commissioner ramsey going to talk to us.

here comes commissioner ramsey right now. commissioner ramsey. chief joe sullivan. here at wheatsheaf and frankfurt. here comes the mayor. here is the mayor, police commissioner and other personnel. we're going to take them live right here.

you can see city personnel, chief joe sullivan. and homeland security here. along with deputy commissioner richard ross. just quickly getting information together before they talk to us. and we expect to get the first briefings. this occurred about two hours ago here amtrak train with 248 passengers on board and five crew members from what we understand. there are reports of serious injuries on board. there have been reports unconfirmed of some fatalities but again that has not been confirmed by anyone here at the scene at this point. we're about tohe briefing as far as removing individuals from the trains. we've seen several bus loads of individuals being removed on

septa buses and they'll be taken to the hospital from what i understand to be looked at and talked to by medical personnel to make sure they're okay. again very chaotic scene here tonight. this unfolded. here in the port richmond section off the wheatsheaf here. the ntsb we're told now has sent what they call a go team to philadelphia they'll be here overnight. >> all right. i'm going to give you very preliminary information. every speaker is going to tell you information is preliminary because it's preliminary. we'll tell what you we have. obviously late this afternoon, early this evening, rather amtrak train 188, originated perfect washington, d.c., northbound to new york city, derailed. officer gillin will give you the

time but around after 9:00 p.m this evening. that incident required a four-alarm response from the fire department. fire department is in command in this scene. that resulted in 33 apparatus on the scene, 120 firefighters, and other emergency management. this went to a level three mass casualty because of the number of personnel. 243 individuals on the train. five of amtrak employees. unfortunately, we can confirm at least five individuals deceased. this is a preliminary estimate. the trains seven cars including the engine are in various stages of disarray turned over upside down and on the side we're still investigating what is going on. 200 police personnel responded

to the incident as well. most individuals were able to walk off of the train. many were transported you'll get that from the fire department. ntsb national agency is ak ti vated. full response i've talked to the governor and his chief of staff. they have given their support. all agencies engaged and involved i've been on the tracks. it's a absolute disasterus mess never seen anything like that in my life. most personnel will say that as well we want our families this was a northbound train from

washington, d.c. to new york city. many of the folks do not live in philadelphia. so we have information with regard to how people can get information on loved ones that will come from sam phillips. director of the office of emergency management. sam? >> we're just working to piece everything together right now. people in the philadelphia area looking for loved ones should go to the webster elementary school. start there. we have a team there and ntsb in route. we'll be working with colleagues to piece together family information if you're local start at webster. >> fire department? >> about 9:38, fire department responded and encountered six overturned trains. they struck a second alarm and declared it a mass casualty.

at 10:24, fourth alarm. that brings 33 apparatus and 122 personnel. it's 11-3, meaning 18 were brought on scene. we have six critical transports to area hospitals those hospitals include chapel university, einstein and a total of 43 transports buses and others are walking wounded. >> police department. >> mr. charles ramsey here. >> we have slightly more than 200 officers responded to the scene. once that occurred and realized the magnitude of it we held over our unit called in a midnight shift, early. a recall of people from s.w.a.t. unit and the like so the city was still covered for norm patrols we brought in extra people and

extended shifts. we used a large number of turn yi yiquets and the investigation continues. >> amtrak? >> focus is on working with the local responders to support all of their needs and make sure passengers and crew of the train are receiving all of the assistance and attention they need. for those of you who have families who have passengers on the train you're concerned about that amtrak has an emergency hot line you can call. 1-800-523-9101. please call that number if you're concerned you might have a relative or family member on the train.

we can work with you to verify that and northeast corner will be shut down. we'll be focused on bringing it back to service as soon as we can. >> hold on just a moment. two pieces of information. the fire department is in command on this particular scene. all information, again, is very preliminary. we'll do our best to answer questions but i need you to understand that if we don't have information we're not going to speculate. we do not know what happened here. we do not know why this happened. there is no information about that. we're not going to speculate about it. we'll try to answer any other questions that you might have. go ahead >> how many people were hospitalized and what is the nature of their injuries? >> again, six were critical. a total of 53 transported by either medic units or buses. >> most injuries at the front of

the train? >> throughout the train there were injuries we established two divisions, east and west division. early reports is that there were 50 self evacuees in the east division and 100 in west division. so we started to track victims and get them to the hospital. >> tell us about the cars. the mayor said it was a devastating scene. >> very bad shape. they've been destroyed. the aluminium has been destroyed and they've been overturned i don't want to speculate on the cause. it's a devastating scene. >> is there difficulty getting to the victims? >> we have special operations on the scene. most people were able to self evacuate. the ones trapped our special

operations, people put hydraulic hydraulics to get them out. that took time. secondary searches are taking place now to make sure everybody is out of there. >> did you have to top out some of the other rail cars? >> absolutely we used hydraulic tools, seven people were trapped train cars are overturned in horrible shape. there is a bunch of debris sharp objects and a dangerous situation for responders and dangerous for riders. >> do we believe everyone is out of the train? >> i can't speculate. >> will you match up the manifest for this particular train and the at least five i have confirmed here based on our preliminary investigation we know are deceased unfortunately we're not going try to speculate at the moment.

any comparison let us do our investigation we have train cars that are overturned on the side ripped apart. we've walked the entire area. and the engine separated from the rest of the train and one of the cars is perpendicular to the rest of the cars. it's unbelievable. >> how many people were on the train? >> the estimate at the moment is a total of 243 individuals. five of whom we believe are amtrak employees. that is your conductor, engineer, other personnel. and then the rest we believe are passengers. that is a preliminary estimate until we get a manifest.

>> were you able to talk to any passengers? or anything like that? >> no. i saw individuals in the street but i did not talk to them they needed medical personnel. that is all we have at the moment, guys that is all we got. that is all we got. >> that is the latest from personnel, i'll let you try to recap. >> what an update from the philadelphia officials who seem to be very on top of the situation there. mayor nutter who has been a star in local politics saying at least five people deceased tonight at least five people deceased, seven cars including the engine in various stages of dis disarray. 33 fire trucks on scene. mayor nutter saying i have never seen anything like this. calling this a quote, absolute

disasterus mess noting that amazingly, most people walked away. and however, of course there were casualties. at least five we don't know what the total number will be. talking about how they divided it no east division and west division. 50 people seen coming out of the east. 100 out of the west. many transported to local hospitals they said about six people are critical. 53 transported, six were critical. saying the fire commissioner said six overturned trains. mayor nutter said seven cars. and it is expected to train. to change. mayor nutter saying flat out, we do not know what happened here and we're not going to

speculate. that will be figured out. i can't remember a train crash where they weren't able to ascertain the cause. we heard the investigator saying the trains do have black boxes and the back was said to be in relatively good shape in comparison to the front. you heard about how the aluminium shell was gone describing them as totally devastated, saying they used hydraulic tools to get the people out. to cut the people out. do we have video posted to an instagram? not verified by us. they're talking about efforts to cut people out of this train that several people were trapped they're still looking for people. and describing as a dangerous situation. listen, listen.

>> keep crawling okay? >> describing this as a dangerous situation for victims and first responders. talking about how trains are on the side ripped apart. and that the engine appeared to be separated from the train. again putting this in more formal numbers, 243 souls on five. amtrak saying they're focused on the victims now, offering that 1-800-line, i don't have in front of me. and folks can get information directly. i want to get to trace ghallager. >> one of the things mentioned is what they didn't say if you go back to who you talk about

earlier, north of new york city we had a while back. so obvious the train had struck a big rig truck they had to talk about it. in this case there doesn't appear to be anything obvious it struck. the ntsb mentioned earlier saying there might have been a freight train involved in this. now, trying to knock down that report not denying it but trying to disway people from going in that direction we have a man, one of the first reports we've gotten someone who is outside of the train, who witnessed this thing firsthand. he said he was driving down frankfurt avenue he said he heard a loud explosion and saw a flame of fire shoot up. by the time our pictures got to the scene there were no flames

that we can see. and then you have another eye witness saying she walked from the crash but saw other people limping away. and had one woman with a broken leg. she says it just tilted you then just flipped over. you have associated press manager says he felt the train slow down. and then he felt shaking and derailment. if you look at these different accounts, and you look at that scene right there, of the mangled wreckage it's unclear as to what happened here which is why you can see authorities are trying to veer clear of speculating on any cause of the crash. to our eyes and the first responders' eyes there is nothing blatantly obvious. >> just incredible there. people just trying to get from point a to b.

this service now has been suspended and cancelled for the evening between philly and new york. normal service returning to amtrak is going to be difficult to resume. they say cars are off the track and this is a devastating scene. it sounds like the train had to be going full speed or close to it. there is a massive investigation and you heard at least 53 people transported to hospitals, six deemed critical. they said at least five fatalities. 53 people transported to the hospital. i'm assuming based on information there are six people in critical condition in >> decision to five people who have died. and that would be the remainder of the 53 who are in better

condition. mayor nut we are we dmot know what happened here. and at least five dead. explaining some of the rhetoric or words we heard tonight when we heard the fire commissioner saying this is a mass casualty situation. that is a term within the fire department meaning this is the number of vehicles and first responders we're going to send talking about it was a quote, four alarm response after 9:00 p.m . our eye witness said about 9:08 and not long thereafter she put it about ten minutes she said the train shifted right. and suddenly the cars tumbled over. she asked herself is this going to be it? that next thing she knew the cars were over on their side. people were screaming and there was dirt from the ground in her

mouth. several trapped looking exits they climbed onto the roof of the car. people were helping one another. and they will do. and there are people not so lucky tonight. we'll hear what injuries were and there are people wondering if there is a loved one on the train. and that is why there are tweets asking for one thing. prayers that is the least we can do. again amtrak is saying call their emergency hot line. if you're a friend or family and have a question about a loved one on board this train.

1-800-523-9101. devastation in form unexpected by those just trying to take a train ride at night. thank you for watching tonight. we'll have more throughout the evening. >> we can confirm five people have been killed and 50 others are injured in what one official described as a mass casualty. we're told area hospitals received 59 patients. six are in critical condition. the front of the train sus stined the worst damage. one person describing it quote, like a ton of metal, just mangled. several people taken out of the wreckage there.